Online dispute resolution: action for firms
From 15 February 2016 new legislation will introduce a European online dispute resolution (ODR) platform which will allow consumers, traders and alternative dispute resolution providers (in financial services this is FOS) to file, respond to, and handle disputes online.
Mortgage Credit Directive: Bridging Loans
The new rules mean many bridging loans will be exempt from the provisions of the Directive, therefore they will be regulated outside of the Directive (i.e. under the current MCOB rules introduced following MMR) or unregulated altogether.
Jan 16 – Double Trouble
This government has finally turned decisively against the private landlord in favour of the first time buyer. Whilst the various purchase assistance schemes which speckled the last government culminating in two flavours of Help to Buy provided welcome support to get people on the housing ladder and got the market moving, it has clearly not […]
Jan 16 – A year of growing pains
It was only a year ago that I returned to work after my Christmas break wondering what was on the horizon for AMI. The MMR had landed well although with some bumps. MCD looked not too troublesome and the market was making optimistic noises about gross mortgage lending of £240bn. Then came 2015, the reality. […]
Jan 16 – The Price of Advice
A recent case where the FOS has found against a broker has gathered some headlines together with significant sympathy and support from the adviser community. AMI is having discussions with the Ombudsman Service on how it is interpreting the Emptage case and what the implications may be for advice on increasing a mortgage. We will […]
Buy to let: permissions
From 21 March 2016 broking buy-to-let mortgages will no longer be a regulated activity. Intermediaries will therefore no longer need to hold a consumer credit permission to advise on unregulated buy-to-let mortgages. There will however still be instances where a consumer credit permission is needed, such as when dealing with refinancing of a buy-to-let agreement […]
Dec 15 – Double Competition
Having been involved with financial services regulation since the passing of the Financial Services Act in 1986, whilst not an expert, I consider that I hold a decent grasp of not just the details but also the underlying principles and philosophy. Not in all that time have I struggled with the direction of travel quite […]
Dec 15 – Coming, ready or not
I am continually being asked if the second charge industry is going to be MCD ready for March 2016. Currently most broker firms are gaining their FCA Consumer Credit authorisation with the final hurdle of a mortgage upgrade to clear. Lenders appear to be packing in for a late run. It is getting late in the […]
Nov 15 – Tooled up
Mortgage sourcing systems have become a vital piece of the adviser armoury. Advisers know that there are occasional issues with data accuracy although this is strongly managed by both lenders and the sourcing engines. As the systems have developed, the range of fields that are available have grown, but the binary nature of many them […]
Nov 15 – Stormy Waters
One of the biggest issues facing advisors following MMR is managing their potential conflicts of interest. This issue is only going to be emphasised following the arrival next year of the Mortgage Credit Directive and then the dawning of the new Senior Persons regime in intermediary space in 2017. MMR and MCD both make it […]
Nov 15 – Senior Persons for Intermediaries
The arrival of the Senior Persons regime for the wider mortgage market is a positive step forward. This delivers a level playing field with our lender partners, a principle that AMI has long argued should be a fundamental in the market. It delivers through a more formal setup, certainty over the existing responsibilities that firms and […]
Oct 15 – Early pantomime season
As the summer tans fade, the party conference season has provided the kind of entertainment usually seen in holiday camps around the UK coast or served up at all inclusive venues around the Mediterranean. The renewed vigour of UKIP, the return of old Labour and the spectre of ten years of Tory rule has brought a […]
